On the morning of the 27th day of the ninth lunar month, Ouyang Shuo left the city with four guards.
His destination was the military factory built in a cave on the western outskirts of the city.
The military factory was built by the Combat Readiness Division of the Military Administration. It had been three months since the construction started. It was mainly responsible for the production of military food pellets, tents, and ladders.
Passing through the western city gate, one could see the craftsmen building the official road not far from the city gate. The starting point of the Sky Sea Road was not the current western city gate, but the western city gate of the third city wall.
Although the official road was not paved with bluestone like the roads in the city, it was not easy to build. In the wilderness, weeds were overgrown. The craftsmen had to first remove the weeds and then dig the soil at the roots to prevent the weeds from growing again next year.
The official road was made of ternary soil. The main materials were lime, soil, and sand. Only when the ternary soil was compacted would the weeds not grow, and it would not become muddy on rainy days.
The chief engineer of the Sky Sea Road designed a "road roller" that was pulled by horses. He asked the blacksmith to build a cylindrical iron roller and used eight horses to pull it, which saved a lot of manpower.
Because one of the important functions of the official road was to mobilize troops and transport materials, the official road was not designed to be narrow. It was a full 20 meters wide, and there was also a good drainage system.
Trees had to be transplanted on both sides of the official road.
In addition, along the Sky Sea Road, there were some tributaries of the Friendship River and some hillsides, which needed to be bridged by water and cleared by mountains. The difficulty was not comparable to the construction inside the city wall.
Finally, there was the most important courier system, which included courier roads and courier stations.
The courier stations were for officials to spend the night. The distance between them was about a day's journey, usually about 60 kilometers. Between the courier stations, there were also simple shops for pedestrians to rest and eat. Usually, there was one shop every 10 kilometers.
After leaving the city, Ouyang Shuo and the others turned left and rode for less than 10 kilometers to reach the cave where the military factory was located. At the entrance of the cave, there was a big iron gate that could only be opened in an emergency. Next to the iron gate, there was a small door that could only allow one person to pass through, which was used as a passage.
In front of the cave, there was a wooden warning sign with the words "Military Restricted Area", and a small team of soldiers stood on both sides, responsible for guarding.
Ouyang Shuo nodded in satisfaction when he saw that the military factory was heavily guarded.
After getting off the horse, Ouyang Shuo handed the horse over to his guards and walked towards the gate alone. When the guard saw Ouyang Shuo, he immediately saluted, "Marquis!" He was about to run over to open the gate.
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand. "There's no need to trouble yourself. This Marquis can enter from the side door."
The soldier looked troubled. "Marquis, this …"
"There's no need to say anything else. I came here on a whim, so I can't mobilize everyone."
"Yes!" The soldier did not dare to argue anymore and respectfully opened the small door.
Ouyang Shuo left two of his personal guards outside and took the other two personal guards with him as he strode into the cave.
The inside of the cave was not as dark as he had imagined. The walls on both sides, including the ceiling, were inlaid with small white stones that emitted a gentle white light, as bright as day.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was not artificially inlaid, but a natural one.
Ouyang Shuo knew that those small stones should be a type of fluorite, a natural light source.
Looking up, the cave was more than ten meters high and more than one hundred and fifty meters wide. There was no end in sight. Such a huge cave did not make one feel depressed at all.
Ouyang Shuo's arrival alarmed the military factory's supervisor. He was a middle-aged man who looked extremely calm. When he received the news, he rushed over. "Marquis has come in person. This humble one has failed to welcome you!"
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand. "This Marquis came uninvited. How about it? Show me around!"
"Yes!" The supervisor nodded and led the way. "The military factory is divided into three areas. They are responsible for the manufacture of military food pellets, tents, and ladders." The supervisor pointed to an area in front and said, "The outermost area is the area where ladders are made."
Ouyang Shuo looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a ten meter wide road in the middle of the cave. Both sides were surrounded by wooden walls.
Through the four meter high walls, one could see ladders erected high up.
"How is the ladder construction efficiency?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
"Reporting to Marquis, according to the current production speed, one ladder can be made every day."
Ouyang Shuo nodded. After passing through the ladder area was the tents area. It could produce twenty tents every day. At the end was the military food pellet area.
The materials used to make military food pellets were grains and some other non-staple foods and seasonings. It was extremely troublesome to make. On average, one military food pellet would consume three to four units of grains.
The production efficiency of military food pellets was quite high. It could produce more than a thousand pellets every day.
Behind the military food pellet area was a river, and the surrounding area was the workers' living area.
After the tour, Ouyang Shuo left the cave under the respectful sending off of everyone.
After returning, Ouyang Shuo contacted Cui Shouren of the Cui Merchant Group through the super trading platform.
Ouyang Shuo's title of Marquis of Lian Province was conferred by the Dali Imperial Court. It obtained official recognition and was effective to all natives. Therefore, the Cui Merchant Group's attitude towards Ouyang Shuo had undergone a huge change.
After all, the Cui Clan was only a merchant family. Their social status wasn't high. They naturally had to maintain sufficient respect towards this Marquis, Ouyang Shuo.
Of course, business was business, so they had to do what they had to do.
"Marquis!" Cui Shouren took the lead to greet Ouyang Shuo. With Ouyang Shuo's guidance, the Cui Merchant Group had stocked up a batch of grains. Just based on this, Cui Shouren didn't dare put on any airs.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "Brother Shouren, this Marquis has a favor to ask of your Merchant Group."
"Marquis, please speak!" Merchants were most afraid of owing favors. The Cui Merchant Group owed Ouyang Shuo a huge favor and was worried about how to repay it. Now that Ouyang Shuo had taken the initiative to ask for a favor, Cui Shouren naturally couldn't ask for more.
"Your Merchant Group has quite a lot of connections in Dali. Can you recruit a group of talents for Shanhai County?"
Ouyang Shuo placed the idea of recruiting talents on the Cui Merchant Group. Compared to the Snow Rose mercenary group that only had influence among the players, the Cui Merchant Group's influence among the natives was even greater.
Cui Shouren was slightly surprised. "Marquis, can you tell me in detail?"
"This Marquis thirsts for talent, but unfortunately, I don't have the connections. I presume there are some unsuccessful people in Dali City. They have a body full of talent but have no place to utilize it. They are either down and out scholars, officials that have been pushed aside, generals that are dissatisfied, or even some craftsmen and artists. All of these people are targets for Shanhai County to recruit. " Ouyang Shuo explained his idea. "Although Shanhai County is located in a remote area, it can provide a platform for them to display their ambitions. Moreover, the salary provided by Shanhai County is absolutely not lower than Royal City's."
Ouyang Shuo's confidence not only came from his Marquis title of Lian Zhou, but also from the influence of his reputation as a Kingdom Scholar among the natives. Especially in Dali, it was even more so.
Cui Shouren suddenly understood Ouyang Shuo's intentions. If it was only based on the reputation of either Marquis Lian Zhou or the Cui Merchant Group, then this matter might be more difficult to handle. But if the two of them were combined, then it could produce a magic that was greater than two. It was extremely persuasive and was sufficient to move many people.
Dali had such a huge talent pool, so even a little bit of it would be sufficient for Shanhai County to consume for a long time. Ouyang Shuo's poaching was truly brilliant.
"Since it's the Marquis's order, the Cui Family is naturally duty-bound." Cui Shouren directly agreed.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. "For the sake of reassuring people and to show my sincerity, this Marquis is willing to provide a settlement allowance for every talent that is willing to settle down in Shanhai County. The specific amount will be determined by your Merchant Group. What do you think? "According to Ouyang Shuo's idea, since it was a person that was unsatisfactory, then they would presumably live in poverty.
"The Marquis is thoughtful." Cui Shouren nodded in agreement. "Please rest assured, Marquis. The Cui Family will definitely treat this matter as a major matter and not let Marquis down!"
"In that case, thank you!" Ouyang Shuo expressed his gratitude.
"You flatter me!"
Cui Shouren didn't go back on his word. After the conversation with Ouyang Shuo ended, he immediately requested to see the Patriarch.
After listening to Cui Shouren's report, the Patriarch of the Cui Family was silent for a long time before he said, "Marquis Lian Zhou is far-sighted, and his arrangements are exquisite and original. Moreover, he has the heart to seek talents. Such breadth of mind and bearing already possess the sign of a soaring dragon. This is a great opportunity for my Cui Family, and we must not miss it. Shouren! "
"Yes!"
"I allow you to utilize the strength of the Cui Family and go all out to recruit talents for Marquis Lian Zhou. Besides that, if the disciples of my Cui Family are interested in an official career, then you can recommend them to the territory of Marquis Lian Zhou. The Cui Clan Merchant Group can consider setting up a branch in the territory of Marquis Lian Zhou at a suitable time. "
Cui Shouren was shocked in his heart. He never imagined that the Patriarch would actually attach so much importance to this matter, and it far exceeded his expectations. Cui Shouren firmly believed the judgment of the Patriarch, and he said loudly, "Yes!"
After Cui Shouren left, the Patriarch sat by himself in the central hall and muttered to himself. "The Cui Family's revival is just around the corner! In the end, I didn't disappoint my ancestors and didn't allow the Cui Family to decline in my hands. "
Once the Cui Clan Merchant Group's strength was activated, its ability was extremely terrifying.
In the streets and alleys of Dali, the servants of the Cui Residence came out in full force, and they brought along the Cui Residence's gilded invitation cards and specially prepared gifts as they paid a visit to the impoverished scholars and officials or generals that Ouyang Shuo had pointed out.
Some of these people were overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, some were composed and at ease, some refused at the door, and so on and so forth. All in all, the joint efforts of Marquis Lian Zhou and the Cui Clan Merchant Group were extremely effective. Most of them indicated that they would seriously consider it for a while before giving the Cui Clan an accurate answer.
As for craftsmen, there was no need for the Cui Clan to make a big fuss and recruit them. The main targets of recruitment were the three types of skilled craftsmen, carpenters, and tailors that Ouyang Shuo had specially instructed. (To be continued.)
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